This large series of mainly correspondence with relatives and friends --is in Hungarian. Among the earliest pieces of correspondence are small watercolors by Fabri that he used as postcards to send messages to family members. A number of later letters are illustrated with drawings by Fabri and other artists.

Professional correspondence concerns teaching, writing and publishing, commercial work, exhibitions and sales. Extensive correspondence - often daily missives - records romantic liaisons with Mabel Farrar, Mina Kocherthaler, Elly von Marczell, and Mavis Elizabeth Peat, as well as the travels and careers of Hungarian opera singer Maria Samson and composer and impresario Laszlo Schawrtz . In addition, there are large numbers of Christmas cards, many with original artwork, from former students and artist friends.

Additional correspondence is included with Subject Files (Series 3) and also among the loose items removed from, but retained with, Fabri's diaries (Series 4: Writings).

Subject files relate mainly to organizations and institutions with which Fabri was associated. They include correspondence, and some official records (minutes, reports, financial records), and printed material. Files for publications (

American Artist

and

Today's Art

) include manuscripts for articles and reviews by Fabri, and correspondence with readers. Files for schools where Fabri taught include correspondence with students and faculty, school catalogs, teaching materials, examinations, class rosters and grade sheets. The Theodore Dreiser file includes information about the Dreiser papers Fabri gave to the University of Pennsylvania and a few typescripts of Dreiser letters.

Series 4: Writings, 1911-1975, undated(Boxes 14-17; 3.8 linear ft.)

Among the extensive writings by Fabri are drafts and completed manuscripts of articles, books, music and lyrics, and a few poems. Manuscripts for Fabri's books include two unpublished titles: a partial draft and outline for

Flower Painting in Every Medium

that may have become

Complete Guide to Flower Painting

, and

The Romance of Architecture

.

Diaries (75 vols.) covering the period 1918-1975 (entirely or partially in Hungarian prior to about 1938) contain almost daily entries recording in varying degrees of detail professional and personal activities, special and mundane events, and his opinions. Of particular interest are Fabri's heavily illustrated notes from his student days at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

Notebooks (7 vols.) mainly contain lists of concerts, operas, and plays attended by Fabri between 1912 and 1974, noting the performers. Writings by other authors include the manuscript of

Pastel Painting

, a book published by Stephen Csoka, said to have been ghostwritten by Fabri.

The series is arranged into 2 subseries:

4.1: Writings By Fabri, 1911-1975, undated

4.2: Writings By Other Authors, 1962, undated

4.1:Writings By Fabri, 1911-1975, undated

Description

Container

Addresss

Address Books, circa 1920s-1969, undated

(6 volumes)

14

5-9

Card File and Loose Slips of Paper, undated

14

10

Articles

Various Titles, 1921-1971, undated

14

11

"Methods and Materials" (series in

Pictures on Exhibit

), 1949-circa 1955

14

12

Books

Advanced Techniques and Styles in Oil Painting

(partial manuscript and outline; unpublished), 1953

14

13

The Art of Polymer Painting

Edited First Draft, circa 1966

14

14

Revised Manuscript, circa 1966

14

15

Final Manuscript, circa 1966

14

16

Notes and Information Concerning Publicity, 1966

14

17

Artist's Guide to Composition

Manuscript, 1969

14

18-19

Illustrations, Captions, Invoices for Photo Orders, 1969

14

20

Color: A Complete Guide for Artists

Edited Draft, circa 1967

14

21-22

Partial Draft and Notes, circa 1967

14

23

Complete Guide to Flower Painting

Manuscript, circa 1968

14

24-25

The First Hundred Years: A Brief History of the American Watercolor Society

Series 5: Art Work, circa 1903-1970s(Box 17, 26; 0.4 linear ft.)

Art work by Fabri includes student work, early commercial work, drawings and sketches, a few early watercolor paintings, and two sketchbooks. Other artists represented are Fabri's uncle Miklos Fabri, Laszlo Schwartz, Paul Mommer, and Marantz.

In addition, illustrated letters by Fabri are filed with Series 1: Correspondence. Notes from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest, which are heavily illustrated, can be found with Series 4: Writings.

Included among the miscellaneous records and artifacts are art sales and donations, six medals awarded to Fabri, and guest books. A videotape (SONY Helical Scan recording) of Fabri in his studio, made by Jerome Bona and Rick Brown that aired on NYC public access television station Channel C in 1973, is also included.

The videotape (SONY Helical Scan recording) of Fabri in his studio was made by Jerome Bona and Rick Brown and aired on NYC public access television station Channel C in 1973.

Printed material by Fabri includes articles, books, commercial designs, reproductions, and works he translated for publication in Hungarian. A fairly complete run of

Today's Art

is included. Fabri contributed articles to the magazine starting in 1953, its first year of publication.

Exhibition related items include catalogs, announcements, and invitations for Fabri's exhibitions and exhibitions of other artists. Also included are posters, and prospectuses. Miscellaneous printed items on a variety of topics include a fair number of blank postcards, and reproductions of art work by other artists.

This series is arranged as 4 subseries:

9.1: About/Mentioning Fabri, 1920s-1973, undated

9.2: By Fabri, 1910s-1973, undated

9.3: Exhibitions, 1917-1971, undated

9.4: Miscellaneous Printed Items, 1919-1973, undated

9.1:About/Mentioning Fabri, 1920s-1973, undated

Description

Container

Announcements of Painting Demonstrations and Lectures by Fabri, 1959-1973, undated

19

1

Articles, 1929-1975, undated

19

2-3

Book Reviews, Publicity, Advertisements for Books by Fabri, 1966-1971, undated

Photographs are of Ralph Fabri, his family (including a few ancestors), friends, and unidentified individuals and groups. Among the places depicted are Pension Villa-Fabri in Hungary, the family's restaurant and hotel. An item of particular note filed with miscellaneous subjects is a view of "Give a Thought to Music," a parade float designed and constructed by Fabri. Ten volumes of photograph albums include views of paintings and commercial work by Fabri, various friends, his studio, the Dreiser estate in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., and group portraits of the City College of New York faculty.

Vol. 5, "Starting with early pix, 1921-1922, though my European trip, 1927, my studio in Washington Square, my family in U.S. and Hungary. My friends Mabel Farrar, Elizabeth Schirmer, others and myself up to 1930. Last pix on top,", 1921-1930

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